WDW Goofy Challenge: Slow and Steady Finishes the Race (Part 3)

There are so many reasons why this marathon should have gone horribly wrong:

1)  I ran a half marathon the day before, and therefore was already functioning on tired legs.
2)  It was HOT and HUMID, and would only get progressively worse as the race stretched on.  In fact, in all 20 years this race has existed, we set the record high temperature for marathon weekend.
3)  I was scared, which left me wondering what my mental state would be during the race.
4)  My body had no idea what time is was anymore.  After a red-eye flight to a time zone that was 3 hours ahead of my own and then waking up at 2 AM two days in a row, plus a few quick naps, my internal time clock was completely out of whack.
5)  I had had a little over 8 hours of sleep over the past 2 nights combined.  This is not a lot when you have to round out your weekend at 39.3 miles.
6)  My running buddy Erica woke up marathon morning with a fever and therefore was certainly not feeling at the top of her game--though she did still decide to power through the race.
7)  I had eaten nothing close to what resembled my normal diet in the previous 3 days.  Which may have been a contributing factor in (warning: TMI) my seeming inability to perform necessary pre-marathon bathroom functions before the race.  It just didn't happen.
8)  The minor hip problem I'd developed on my end of December treadmill runs sprung it's ugly head during the half.  Which meant that more than likely it would return full force for the full too.
9)  The no-so-fun cough I'd had for about 2 weeks was persisting.  (Again, TMI warning).  I didn't feel sick and my throat didn't hurt, but every few minutes to a half hour I'd encounter a coughing fit where some pretty disgusting green stuff emerged from somewhere deep in my lungs.

I'm sure there were more reasons why this day should not have worked.  But I think those listed above suffice to prove a point.  The entity of being that is the marathon will never cease to surprise you.  The marathon has a mind of it's own.  It lays out a plan for you that you could never predict until the day of the race.  It keeps you guessing, keeps you working, and keeps you alive.  And then when you cross the finish line, you can't help but simply wonder, "Why?"  Whether good or bad, the question that always remains is, "Why?"

The Marathon

For those interested in a visual aid as I describe the progression of this marathon through Disney World, here's a course map:

Click this link for the full PDF zoom-in/zoom-out version.

Sunday morning, as our 2 AM alarms went off again, we Goofy racers experienced a surreal form of deja vu. However, this wasn't actually deja vu, because all of it really had happened just a mere 24 hours ago.  I woke up, got dressed, ate my yogurt and granola, packed my gear check bag, and met the team in the lobby at 3 AM.

Minor differences in this picture from yesterday: t-shirt
instead of tank, super attractive water belt in place, hat
instead of Minnie Mouse sweaty band, and black instead
of dark grey capris.

We loaded the same shuttles as the day before.  Got dropped off for the same 5 minute walk to gear check.  Parked ourselves in the same area near the same Toy Story toy soldier enthusiastically directing traffic.

More sitting and less dancing.  Except Nadine, who "claimed" there wouldn't
be nearly as much race course dancing on this day.

The transition from this parking spot, through gear check, and the 20 minute walk to the race start went a little smoother on marathon morning.  Instead of pushing everyone through to wait on the other side, they tried to call one or two corrals at a time to head towards the start.  There was no penned in wait between the bag check and port a potties.

After the walk, once we made it to our corral, this is where things seemed to feel suddenly, drastically different.  This is the first start line I've ever been to where all 30,000 people were staring down the neck of 26.2 miles.  In all other races (where halves and fulls run on the same day) only a quarter to a third of the start line racers are doing a full.  You can pick them out in the crowd.  They're the quieter ones, the more subdued, more focused ones.  The day before for the half, people were standing, excited, enthusiastic, and energetic.  But today, everyone in the corrals was sitting.  Quiet.  Subdued.  Focused.

I should have taken a picture of the sea of sitting marathoners.  But my mind was elsewhere.

And oddly, even the Disney event planners made the start more subdued.  Instead of blasting fun music, they had people up on stage interviewing race organizers, event planners, celebrity runners (Joey Fatone did the Goofy Challenge), etc.  It was like listening to boring talk radio.  No music was played until just a couple minutes before the start.  Poor planning Disney, we need to be pumped up.  Not put back to sleep.

Eventually we were all directed to stand up so that everyone could fit into corrals.  And then they started the race.  For the marathon, Mickey did the count downs.  Corral A left with their fireworks to start us off.  Then Corral B.  More fireworks.  And then it was us.  MacKenzie, Erica, and I took off from the start line quietly, expecting a not very fun few hours ahead of us.

As we left the start line and ran our way through the first 3 miles back to Magic Kingdom, I still wasn't excited.  I could already feel my tired legs.  I began to dread that wall that I knew I would hit.  Probably earlier in this marathon than others in the past.  And while it was exciting to be running through Magic Kingdom again, I had done it already yesterday.  It was old hat.

Also, as I mentioned earlier, Erica had woken up with a fever and horrible headache, popped some ibuprofen and pushed herself to the start line.  Now she had a marathon to run too.  We made a quick bathroom stop just as we entered Magic Kingdom at mile 4 (they had opened the public bathrooms, so there were real flushing toilets!) and bumped into MacKenzie again on the way out as she waited in the bathroom line.  We had lost her somewhere in those few miles.  

We also leap frogged with 2 teammates, Regan and Stephanie, between miles 4 and 5.  Passing them, then stopping for the bathroom, passing them, then stopping to take pictures in front of Cinderella Castle, then passing them again.  It was great to see them so many times.  We also saw Coach Nadine, who was stationed around mile 4.  She ran with us for a bit, then said goodbye and hopefully she'd see us again around mile 24, but she wasn't sure she'd make it there in time for us.

Miles 6, 7, and 8 were the same stretch of highway as the day before, until we got to the Richard Petty Driving Experience Speedway.  This is where my mood started to pick up a bit.  As we ran through the race track, people had driven their old relic cars and lined them up all along the outer edges of the track.  They stood next to their awesome looking cars and cheered us as we ran by.  Towards the end, we even spotted this guy:

Lightning McQueen!  He had his friend Mater with him too.

After leaving the Speedway, we faced our longest stretch of highway between miles 9 and 12 as we headed towards Animal Kingdom.  One thing I have to commend Disney for in this race: there was never a moment where I felt bored.  They had entertainment crawling all over every inch of this course; from characters to comedians to DJ's to volunteers whose only job was to simply cheer us enthusiastically on.  And there was certainly no lack of enthusiasm on this course.

As Erica and I continued toward the halfway point, I tried to keep us on track with eating a GU every 40 minutes.  I also supplemented with Sport Beans in between my GUs.  We stopped at almost every water stop as the day grew hotter and stickier.  By mile 13, I was grabbing both a cup of Powerade and a cup of water at every water stop (basically every mile).  We tried to keep our pace above 9:30 and walk all the water stops.  Aside from constant pain throughout both my legs and an aching left knee between miles 2 and 7 (I think I was overcompensating for the hip), I felt great.  My breathing was smooth and easy and my energy seemed endless.

Erica, on the other hand, wasn't doing quite so well.  She was struggling to breathe and talk.  But we continued to run, sometimes in silence, sometimes with me talking at her.  We ran into Coach Siri as we entered the Animal Kingdom and got another little boost from seeing someone we knew.

I don't remember a lot about going through the Animal Kingdom other than seeing the Tree of Life, Mount Everest, and a few fun characters.  We weren't stopping for character pictures in the marathon, but I couldn't help but stop and take a picture of the Tree of Life.

This thing was huge and gorgeous.  I'd love to go back
to see it again when I'm not halfway through a marathon.

After we left Animal Kingdom, the next stop was the ESPN Sports Complex for miles 17-20.  On the way there we saw Coach Kelly, and Erica seemed to be feeling miserable at this point.  We ran with Kelly for a bit and then a mile or 2 later stopped at a med tent so Erica could take some Tylenol (the medics at the med tents were handing this stuff out like candy).  I also decided to take 2 more Aleve--I had taken 2 before the race to stave off hip pain, but it had worn off.

Then we entered the Sports Complex.  This was by far my least favorite part of the course.  Just look at the winding mess they sent us through: 

Turn here, then turn here, then around the track, then around the
corner, then turn again...blah blah blah.  All the while it feels like
you're running around the fields of a very wealthy high school.

Despite my dislike for this part of the course, these 3 miles were probably the most eventful of the entire race for Erica and I.  Here's a summary:

• About a half mile in, Erica started coughing, couldn't catch her breath, and then started hyperventilating.  We pulled over to the side, and while I watched her trying to catch her breath, I ran through all my old First Aid/CPR training of what to do in this situation.  I don't think there was ever a scenario that started with "When you're in the middle of a marathon and you're running partner starts hyperventilating because she's running a marathon with a fever..."  Luckily, she recovered and on we ran.
• Not too long after that, my hip, which had been hurting for about 10 or so miles, suddenly seized up to the point that I was limp-running and limp-walking through water stops.  Once again Erica and I pulled to the side.  I tried to stretch it, but couldn't get to whatever was seized, so Erica offered to dig her elbow into my hip (a trick learned from Coach Shelby whose solution to all injuries is to dig it out).  Only in a marathon would people run by two girls standing on the side of the road, one digging her elbow as hard as possible into the hip joint of the other and not think once about it.
• Erica's impromptu elbow digging worked for about a mile, but then my hip seized up again.  Finally, we stopped at a med tent, where I proceed to stand in full view of other runners, stick my hand down my pants, and rub BioFreeze (similar to Icy Hot) all over my hip.  Again, no one looked twice.  The BioFreeze succeeded in numbing my hip for the rest of the race.
• I knew my parents were going to be waiting for us somewhere around mile 20.  They surprised us when we saw them in a crowd around mile 18.5.  We stopped, hugged, took a couple pictures, and smiled huge smiles.  I had expected to be exhausted, in a fog, and in a wall by the time I saw my parents.  But I wasn't.  And seeing them made me think I could actually make it to the end.  It was just the boost I needed to get over all the pain I was feeling in my legs and feet.  They'd be waiting for me at the finish line too.  I simply had to get there.
• Somewhere in mile 20 as we ran through the baseball stadium was Disney's "Mile 20 Spectacular" for the 20th anniversary of the race.  I was not impressed.  
• Finally, we hit the actual mile 20, left the Sports Complex, and went merrily on our way.

6 more miles to go.  In past marathons I had hit my wall as early as mile 18 and as late as mile 23.  I knew I was in the range.  I knew it had to be coming.  It was simply a matter of time.